Forbes names London as Most Influential City in World

Forbes’ “The World’s Most Influential Cities 2014” ranks London top over competitors such as New York and Paris on criteria such as amount of foreign direct investment attracted, concentration of corporate headquarters and ease of travel to other global cities.

Oct 2014, London, UK – According to the study, London attracted more than double the amount of foreign direct investment deals than New York, which was ranked second.

Gordon Innes, CEO of London & Partners, the Mayor’s promotional company for the capital, said: “London has many outstanding attributes that are recognised worldwide, including a deep pool of talent, superb access to markets and financial backing, and a well-earned reputation for innovation and creativity. I am proud that Forbes has recognized these strengths in this study, and we will continue to showcase London to the outside world, not only helping as many companies as possible to come to our city, but also creating new jobs and economic growth that will benefit both London and the UK.”

Forbes:
A preferred domicile for the global rich, London is not only the historic capital of the English language, which contributes to its status as a powerful media hub and major advertising center, but it’s also the birthplace of the cultural, legal and business practices that define global capitalism.London hosts the headquarters of 68 companies on the 2012 Forbes Global 2000 list and is a popular location for the regional HQs of many multinationals. (Our HQ ranking component, in which London ranks third, is based on GaWC’s 2012 Command and Control Index, which factors in company size and financial performance, as well as total number of Forbes Global 2k HQs).

Beyond these traditional strengths, London has become Europe’s top technology startup center, according to the Startup Genome project. The city has upward of 3,000 tech startup sas well as Google’s largest office outside Silicon Valley.

New York, which comes in a close second in our study (40 points to London’s 42), is home to most of the world’s top investment banks and hedge funds, and the stock trading volume on the city’s exchanges is nearly four times that of second place Tokyo and more than 10 times that of London.

Like London, New York is a global leader in media and advertising, the music industry (home to two of the big three labels), and also one of the most important capitals of the fashion and luxury business. With iconic landmarks galore, international visitors spend more money in New York each year than in any other city in the world.

Video: The London Story, Mayor Boris Johnson
Photo: Forbes names London as Most Influential City in World / View from the top of the Victoria Tower Westminster, London, England. cVisitBritain – James McCormick